Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to an operating device with a plurality of actuating elements arranged next to one another and/or one below the other, in particular switches and/or pushbuttons. It further relates to an operating device of this type with a touch-sensitive screen.
If operating elements of this type are arranged on an operating device that is subjected to strong vibrations or other relative motions in relation to the operator, it is difficult for the operator to identify and accurately actuate the corresponding actuating element. The identification by the operator is particularly difficult when the operator is visually concentrated elsewhere at the same time and can look at the operating device only briefly or only out of the corner of his/her eye or not at all during the operation. In particular, this actuation is difficult when the actuating elements are arranged in panels or rows of keys, for example, as a membrane key or other keys or switches, which cannot be distinguished from one another haptically. Touch-sensitive screens, which are becoming increasingly widespread, are another example of actuating elements of this type.
Touch-sensitive screens are being used increasingly in vehicles, in particular in ground vehicles and also in aircraft. They thereby take over functions that previously had been provided by switches and pushbuttons. In the place of a physical pushbutton or switch on the touch-sensitive screen a limited area is defined and shown to the user as a button. When the user touches this button, the touch-sensitive screen registers this touch at this location on the screen and thereby triggers a corresponding switch function or key function, which conventionally was triggered via the switch or pushbutton.
In particular for the “blind” operation of a conventional switch or pushbutton, that is, an operation in which the user feels the switch or pushbutton and thereby recognizes it without having to look at it, hitherto discrete switches and pushbuttons were provided with an individualized surface or contour that made it possible to feel and identify the switch or pushbutton. Designs of this type are referred to as haptic codes. Haptic codes of this type were frequently used in aircraft construction, in particular in aircraft flying very fast in order to make it possible for the pilot to operate certain instruments without having to look at the associated operating panel.
However, the user does not receive this type of haptic feedback when he/she has to carry out corresponding switch or pushbutton actuations on a flat touch-sensitive screen. The flat surface of the touch-sensitive screen does not make it possible to provide haptic codes thereon, since the property of the surface for the flexible reproduction of different actuating scenarios would be considerably restricted by such measures for changing the surface.
These problems are not limited to aircraft, but can occur in any other vehicle (land vehicle, watercraft, spacecraft) or also with stationary machines that are exposed to strong oscillations or vibrations.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,394 B1 discloses an operating interface for the visually impaired in which at the edge of a screen, which can be embodied as a touch-sensitive screen, a roller bar is provided, which has a plurality of disks rotatable about a common axis, each of which has a polygonal cross-sectional shape. These roller bars are therefore provided on their respective circumference with a plurality of faces, on which respectively information fields in Braille are provided. In this manner by rotating individual disks, which are respectively assigned to one switch panel on the screen or next to the screen, a user can be provided with corresponding information in Braille.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0046066 A1 discloses an actuating device for machine control with a screen on which two display windows are provided. A plurality of control buttons are assigned to of each of the display windows, which control buttons are arranged around the screen. These control buttons can also be arranged as touch-sensitive actuating fields on the screen, when it is embodied as a touch-sensitive screen. There is no ability to distinguish the control buttons or the operating panels haptically.
French Patent Document FR 2 904 442 A1 discloses a keypad that is arranged next to a screen at one side of the screen. Cursor movements and selection commands can be given to the screen by means of the keys. The individual keys of the keypad are provided with symbols that can be detected haptically.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to an operating device with a plurality of actuating elements arranged next to one another or one below the other, in particular switches and/or pushbuttons, which, without restricting the flexibility of an operating device of this type, provide a haptically oriented actuation of the actuating elements or other control elements provided on the operating device.
An operating device of this type according to the invention with a plurality of actuating elements arranged next to one another and/or one below the other, in particular switches and/or pushbuttons, wherein the actuating elements are buttons and/or touch surfaces that do not differ haptically from one another, is characterized in that the majority of the actuating elements is delimited at least in part by at least one frame element and wherein the frame element is provided at least in some regions with surface sections that have a structure that can be detected haptically and which are assigned to respectively one actuating element, such that the structure that can be detected haptically gives a haptic orientation for actuating the buttons and/or touch fields that form the actuating elements and that cannot be distinguished from one another haptically.
The frame element is thus provided, at least in some regions, with surface sections that are shaped such that they can be detected in a haptically distinguishable manner, and respectively one actuating element is assigned to at least a part of the surface sections that can be detected in a haptically distinguishable manner.
The provision of the frame element embodied at least in some regions with surface sections that can be detected haptically at the edge, for example, of a row of actuating elements makes it possible in a simple manner to give a haptic orientation to a hand searching for the actuating elements, for example the touch surfaces and/or buttons. If the actuating elements are then arranged such that respectively one actuating element (touch surface and/or button or another control element) is assigned to one of the surface sections that can be detected haptically on the frame element, the user needs only to detect the actuating element next to the surface section he/she has haptically detected, for example, to press the touch surface or button, in order to actuate the corresponding touch surface or button. For this purpose respectively one actuating element is assigned to at least a part of the haptically detectable surface sections.
The present invention is also advantageous because in many cases no additional component is necessary, since a plurality of actuating elements installed in a front plate of an operating device is often surrounded by a frame, so that it is necessary merely to embody this frame, which is already present, according to the invention.
Preferably, at least one of the haptically detectable surface sections is provided with an individual surface structure that makes the haptically detectable surface section identifiable. It is thereby possible for the user to make a distinction between several haptically detectable surface sections lying next to one another. The individual surface structure can be formed, for example, by a tip or elevation projecting from the surface of the surface section or, for example, by one or more ribs running parallel to one another.
The surface structure can be repeated along the edge of the plurality of actuating elements such that, for example, every third or every fifth surface section has the same surface structure; in other words: further surface sections having a different surface structure are provided between the surface sections provided with the same surface structure.
It is also advantageous if at least one of the haptically detectable surface sections is embodied with an individually embodied edge contour, which makes the haptically detectable surface section identifiable. This identification feature is thus not provided on the surface itself but at the edge of the surface and can be provided either independently of the identification feature of the individual surface structure or in addition thereto. Due to possibility of combination with different individual surface structures and different individually detectable edge contours, a plurality of unique haptic codes of the respective surface sections can be formed.
If the frame element is preferably embodied as a retaining strip, on which an operator can support his/her operating hand, a secure and reliable operation is possible even with high accelerations and vibrations acting on the operator, since the operating hand can be mechanically supported on the retaining strip formed by the frame element, whereby the risk of accidentally touching the actuating element is considerably reduced.
This additional stabilization by the frame element is particularly advantageous when the retaining strip is embodied such that the operator can also hold onto it by his/her operating hand. It is thereby possible to actively fix the operating hand with the fingers and also during the operation to release only that finger that is necessary for touching the actuating element.
In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention the actuating elements are formed by touch surfaces and/or buttons that are shown functionally on a touch-sensitive screen. An operating device of this type with a touch-sensitive screen as well as an associated control device for the touch-sensitive screen, by means of which touch surfaces and/or buttons can be shown functionally on the touch-sensitive screen, is preferably embodied such that the touch-sensitive screen is delimited at least in part by at least one frame element, wherein the frame element is provided at least in some regions with surface sections that are shaped such that they can be detected haptically. Respectively one touch surface and/or button on the touch-sensitive screen is thereby assigned to at least a part of the haptically detectable surface sections.